Game Recap
Before the game last night, the Mets fired pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez because somehow they were not able to make a bullpen full of names like Drew Gagnon, Tim Peterson, Jacob Rhame, Hector Santiago, and whatever else Triple to Four-A relievers Brodie Van Wagenen supplied to create a viable bullpen.
This meant Phil Regan was once again a Major League pitching coach, and we saw the return of Ricky Bones as the bullpen coach. Their first duty was to make Walker Lockett a viable starter in a game against the Chicago Cubs. It worked for exactly two innings.
Entering the bottom of the third, the Mets had a 3-0 lead. The first run came when Carlos Gomez killed a rally by grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs. The other two came against another epic Pete Alonso homer. It would prove to not be nearly enough.
In the bottom of the third, the only out Lockett would get was on a sacrifice bunt by the opposing pitcher Tyler Chatwood. It was an ugly six run inning which included five hits, two walks, and just further ugly play behind the plate by Wilson Ramos with a passed ball and wild pitch. At that point, it was 6-3 Cubs with the Mets having no real shot at a comeback.
The final score was 7-4 because Javier Baez homered off Robert Gsellman in the seventh, and Todd Frazier homered in the ninth off Adbert Alzolay. Speaking of Alzolay for a second, he was absolutely electric when he piggybacked this start allowing just that homer to Frazier while walking two and striking out five.
When you looked at these teams, you saw the Cubs as the team with a stable organization who was willing to spend and had a stable plan. When the Cubs needed to win a World Series, they hired Theo Epstein and not a former agent who was way in over his head. This is how you get the Cubs winning 90+ games every year, and you have the Mets falling apart since 2015.
Game Notes: New pitching coach Phil Regan is 82 years old. To put in perspective how old he is, he pitched against Ted Williams, and he was teammates with Hall of Famers like Sandy Koufax and Al Kaline. Another interesting note is he was part of the 1969 Cubs team who lost the division to the Miracle Mets.
The Mets didn’t lose this game because of J.D. Davis. Even though he was a central figure in the loss, you can’t blame him. Not in the least. And yet, he was a central figure to all that went wrong.
This game was lost on the sixth inning. In the top half, he’d get the rally started with a single off Braves starter Max Fried. He was on second when Wilson Ramos hit a single to right, and he was the one chugging home on an all time bad send by Gary Disarcina.
Charlie ➡️ Flow = He gone!#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/oWd9Y47Vej
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 20, 2019
Davis did what he could do when really there was nothing he could do. Instead of bases loaded one out with Amed Rosario, who had hit a game tying RBI ground rule double in his previous at-bat, there were now two outs. The Mets still had a chance there, but Rosario struck out.
In the bottom of the inning, Davis would strike again. Freddie Freeman led off the inning with a routine fly ball which absolutely should have been caught. The problem is Davis is not a left fielder. He doesn’t belong out there. However, because of the complete lack of depth built by Brodie Van Wagenen, there was Davis playing a position he should not have been playing.
It was a rally started because Davis can’t play the position he was requested to play. However, it wasn’t Davis who melted down on the mound.
Up until that point, Steven Matz was pitching well. He only allowed two earned over the first five, and he had pitched four consecutive scoreless innings since the two run first. He dealt with some adversity, and he got through it.
Unfortunately, when that ball dropped in front of Davis, he was noticeably upset. It harkened back to the times when Matz had been called not mentally tough. He then allowed a two run homer to Josh Donaldson which effectively ended the game.
Matz would not get another out, but he’d allow another run. He’d depart leaving Ozzie Albies in scoring position. Chris Flexen entered the game. To his credit, Albies did not score, and he’d also pitch a scoreless seventh. In that seventh, he made Dansby Swanson look ridiculous on a strikeout.
But, it was too little too late. Stephen Nogosek made his Major League debut in the eighth. He’d get into trouble, and Daniel Zamora couldn’t bail him out allowing a two RBI double to Nick Markakis.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Anthony Swarzak, a reliever traded away by Van Wagenen, pitched 1.1 scoreless allowing just a hit. As bad as that was, with the loss, the Mets dropped to fourth place.
If you’re going to call a team meeting and shake things up, you do it on the day Jacob deGrom pitches. After all, at a minimum, you know you’re getting a very well pitched game.
But it’s more than that. This Mets team had continued to fight despite gut wrench loss after gut wrenching loss. All they needed was some sort of spark to put it all together. Tonight, they got it in the form of deGrom, Pete Alonso, and Michael Conforto.
Even Mets killer Julio Teheran couldn’t stop this team tonight.
Alonso’s first inning double off Teheran went for naught, but you wouldn’t say the same of his third inning double. That one would plate Jeff McNeil. Conforto would follow with a double of his own. These were part of a four run inning and six doubles hit by the Mets on the night.
At 4-0 in the third, the game was effectively over because deGrom was great. Cy Young caliber deGrom great. Through eight, he’d shut out the Braves while allowing three hits and striking out 10.
Things were so good for deGrom and the Mets, deGrom had five plate appearances, and he’d have one of the six Mets doubles.
Alonso had hit first career four hit game, and he’d walk twice putting him on base safely SIX times. Three of his hits went for extra bases including another mammoth homer:
Pete was tired of keeping them in the ballpark. ❄️?
VOTE: https://t.co/2yw991wn5N pic.twitter.com/n35tt99NG7
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 19, 2019
He wasn’t the other one to hit a big homer on the night. We’d also see Conforto and McNeil collect homers.
In addition to those three All Star caliber Mets, Todd Frazier knocked in a couple of runs including a bases loaded walk. Robinson Cano had an RBI double. Every starter had a hit, and the Mets returned the favor from yesterday with their own blowout.
The only downside was deGrom couldn’t finish off the shutout. Of course, it was Freddie Freeman who ruined it with a homer. A Josh Donaldson homer pulled the Braves to within 10-2, and it chased deGrom after 8.1 innings.
For some reason, Robert Gsellman was the guy picked to mop this up. He did the job, and suddenly, even if for a night, the Mets season was still alive.
Game Notes: Jeurys Familia was placed on the IL, and Drew Gagnon was designated for assignment. In their place, Stephen Nogosek and Daniel Zamora were called up to help fix the beleaguered bullpen.
Brodie Van Wagenen built a poor defensive club with a bullpen that was an arm or two short. When you do that, you’re not beating average teams like the Cardinals, and you’re not beating good teams like the Braves.
When you get injuries and poor performances from the bullpen, you’re not beating anyone on the road, which is why the Mets have the most road losses in the National League.
Zack Wheeler was decent for four allowing two runs only for the National League worst defense to destroy his and the Mets chances of winning the game.
The Mets got misplays from Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Wilson Ramos, the latter of which who appeared to not even bother on the tough balls in the dirt. The embarrassingly poor defense and defensive effort took a 2-2 game and made it 5-2.
If you had a glimmer of hope after the Robinson Cano sixth inning homer, the Mets bullpen made sure to destroy those delusions of grandeur.
Jeurys Familia loaded the bases while recording just one out in the seventh causing Mickey Callaway to go to Drew Gagnon to put out the fire. Sadly, Gagnon decided to use a mixture of gasoline and kerosene to try to put out that fire.
By the time he was done, the 5-3 deficit grew to 12-3. Three of the runs were charged to Familia and four were charged to Gagnon. At the end, who cares? Every reliever not named Seth Lugo is pitching extremely poorly. The defense is worse than that.
You can tell yourself the Mets competed with the Braves for most of this game, and that they tied the score off Mike Soroka and his 1.92 ERA. It doesn’t matter because this bullpen is non-competitive.
Game Notes: Wheeler has a .323 batting average with a .828 OPS.
Lot to digest with this one, so just like in Spaceballs, we’ll go with the short-short version:
Pete Alonso almost pulled off a Tommie Agee in the first off Cardinals starter Michael Wacha:
Sometimes home runs go to the third deck. Sometimes home runs go three feet over the fence. pic.twitter.com/5pohau0kIL
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 16, 2019
Home Plate Umpire Brian O’Nora vomited on the field causing a 10 minute delay. Believe it or not, it was not due to having to watch this Mets team play.
Noah Syndergaard pitched well coming off strep throat, and entering the seventh, the Mets were up 8-3. Syndergaard seemed to pull a muscle or something in his leg and had to leave the game.
The Mets bullpen is terrible, and they made an 8-3 game an 8-7 one. Edwin Diaz would need Jeff McNeil to track down a ball which fell between him and Michael Conforto and nail Jack Flaherty at the plate.
Squirrel saves the day! #MetsWin pic.twitter.com/JziQqlD0rN
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 16, 2019
That was a really bad send there, but the Mets benefitted. You can call it a bad win all you want, but it’s still a win. Take it and be happy.
Game Notes: Mets have as many wins as they did all last June (5). J.D. Davis had a career day at the plate going 4-for-5 falling a triple short of the cycle.
The Mets picked up last night’s suspended game today. The Mets didn’t score in the ninth, so the game went into extra innings.
Mickey Callaway stuck with Edwin Diaz. Diaz had blown the game in the ninth, but that happened last night. Despite fans consternation, it was the right move because Diaz was the best pitcher available.
Of course, with this being the Mets, it didn’t work out.
Diaz allowed a leadoff single to Yairo Munoz, and he presented no impediment to Munoz stealing second. After a groundout, he was on third outing him in position to score on a Paul DeJong RBI single.
The Cardinals won 5-4, and it would not be the last time DeJong and the Mets bullpen would be heard from tonight.
After a tough three run fifth, Steven Matz appeared to be headed for his fifth loss of the year. His fifth inning homer pulled the Mets to within two. The seventh inning rally got Matz off the hook and gave the Mets the lead.
After loading the bases with no outs, the first run scored when Kolten Wong robbed Pete Alonso of a hit, but he then threw it too low for DeJong. Everyone was safe, and the Mets pulled within one.
After Dominic Smith struck out and Todd Frazier hit a fielder’s choice with Matt Carpenter getting the runner at home, Wilson Ramos delivered a huge two out two RBI hit to give the Mets a 5-4 lead.
It didn’t matter.
Jeurys Familia immediately gave up the game tying homer to DeJong. With another blown save for him and the Mets in the books, the Mets have a Major League worst 16 blown saves.
It got worse for Familia as the Cardinals continued to hit him hard, and eventually, they’d take the lead on a three run Dexter Fowler homer. It was the second time in his career Familia allowed two homers in a game. Both times happened this year.
Not to be outdone, Hector Santiago took over in the ninth, and he allowed s homer to Wong. The final score would be 9-5.
Instead of being at .500 or a game over, the Mets are back to three under. This is a team who can’t get out of their own way, and a large part of it is because Brodie Van Wagenen did a bad job and continues to do a bad job.
Game Notes: As pointed out by Zach Braziller of the N.Y. Post, Mets pitchers have five homers, and Mets center fielders have six.
Aside from the stretch where he was dealing with illness and some slight injury issues, Jacob deGrom hasn’t been too far off from his Cy Young season. When he’s going this good, the Mets just need to get him a lead to get the win. Tonight, the Mets needed to do it twice.
The Mets and deGrom fell behind in the third as Matt Carpenter beat the shift for a two out RBI single. We saw deGrom frustrated in the dugout, and we are all reminded how the Mets are among the worst in shifting their infield.
The Cardinals lead was very short lived as Michael Conforto hit a two run homer off Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty. Not only did that homer give the Mets the lead, but it’s a reminder Conforto should be an All Star.
Make that 17 consecutive home games with a home run! #LGM
Vote Conforto ? https://t.co/iAfhjEVKG2 pic.twitter.com/biBo79vdaF
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 14, 2019
Surprisingly, that lead didn’t hold up because Paul DeJong hit a game tying homer in the sixth past a leaping Carlos Gomez. Between DeJong and Yadier Molina, the Cardinals have too many Mets killers. That should come as no surprise as that’s the way it’s always been between these two teams.
Once again, the Mets answered the Bell with a two run rally right after a Cardinals run.
Pete Alonso got the rally started with a ground rule double, and he’d score off a Dominic Smith RBI single. That hit gave the Mets the lead, and the team would continue to rally.
The Mets immediately loaded the bases causing the Cardinals to pull Flaherty and bring in Giovanny Gallegos. Amed Rosario got a hold off of one and drove it to deep center only to be absolutely robbed of an extra base got by Harrison Bader.
The ball was hit more than deep enough to score Smith from third. On the play, Bader made a horrific throw, and there was no one covering third. Todd Frazier, who was halfway and slow to get back took off for third. Carpenter was able to get the errant ball to Kolten Wong who barely beat Frazier to third for the third out.
You understand Frazier going there, but you have to be safe there because it killed what could have been a bigger rally. It would haunt the Mets.
deGrom came out for the seventh and put up another zero. He finished the game with seven innings allowing just two earned on six hits and no walks with eight strikeouts. In sum, it was a deGrom start.
Before the ninth started, the umpires called for the tarps. Mickey Callaway with some animated players behind him, like Alonso with his glove under his jersey coaxed the umpires to reverse course. The tarps came off the field, and instead, the grounds crew went back to work.
It was deemed a rain delay as a warmed o Diaz was left wandering around the dugout while the grounds crew tried to clean and dry up a pretty soggy infield. Whatever the case, it was a nine minute rain delay.
Diaz walked the Marcell Ozuna to leadoff the inning, and he just couldn’t get that last out. With two outs, Wong knocked in Ozuna. Presumably due to the field conditions, Wong couldn’t get to second even with the ball in the corner. Bader then ripped a ball to the left field corner.
Carlos Gomez made a poor relay throw to Rosario. With the wet weather, Rosario couldn’t pick it allowing Wong to score. It was frustrating because if Gomez makes even a decent throw Wong would’ve been out ending the game.
Instead, after Bader slipped and fell and was thrown out trying to get back to second, the Cardinals tied the score 4-4, and this time, the umpires called a real delay with the tarps out before the bottom of the ninth.
Between the field conditions and weather reports, the game is suspended until tomorrow. That means the Mets will have to wait another 24 hours (perhaps longer) until the Mets can get back to .500.
Game Notes: Before his at-bat in the fourth, Wilson Ramos‘ wife held a sign in the stands to inform him she’s pregnant with their third child. He struck out looking. deGrom became the eighth Mets pitcher to strike out 1,100 batters. Mets have now homered in 17 straight home games.
Want to know what type of year it has been for the Mets? Pete Alonso was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple, and on the play, he was awarded home:
A yes doubter. pic.twitter.com/RK1H1w8hEU
— Roger Cormier (@yayroger) June 9, 2019
That’s right nothing makes sense when it comes to the Mets this year. That said, you have to keep your eyes on them because you never know what’s going to happen next.
Carlos Gomez is hitting .182, and he’s one for his last 16. Naturally, he hits a two run homer off Jon Gray.
A month ago, Todd Frazier looked completely washed up and on the precipice of being designated for assignment, possibly a forced retirement. He’s been the Mets best player since hitting homers and robbing Nolan Arenado of a base hits.
We are constantly told Steven Matz is mentally weak. He battled a tough Rockies lineup and just flat out horrendous work from the Home Plate Umpire Mike Winters to go six strong to put himself in line for the win.
That included his taking the rare step of going a fourth time through the lineup and throwing 120 pitches. That’s really rarified territory for him, and the purportedly mentally weak Matz allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out 10. The reason for that is partially due to his having his curve working:
Got 'em looking. ? pic.twitter.com/5l7HcHCyCb
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 8, 2019
Going back to the home plate umpire, he was REALLY terrible. Just ask Amed Rosario:
If Amed Rosario has some thoughts after the game, this is going to be why (strike 3) pic.twitter.com/SIJxknfTWZ
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 9, 2019
Push finally came to shove, and we saw yet another completely unexpected thing. Mickey Callaway was ejected. He argued the awful strike zone and was tossed. Again, this is completely uncharacteristic of him.
Another unexpected development was Daniel Murphy going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on the night. With him not killing the Mets for once, the Mets had a chance to win.
Ultimately, they did win 5-3 partially because of the one expected thing that did happen. Seth Lugo pitched two scoreless, and Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.
Just that like that, for one day, things look good for the Mets. Let’s see if they can get more positive unexpected things to happen in the ensuing days, weeks, and months, to keep it going.
Game Notes: With his 21st homer, Alonso is just five behind Darryl Strawberry‘s rookie record. He’s two behind Christian Yelich for the MLB lead.
Things really changed for the Mets when they showed ZERO interest in bringing back Daniel Murphy. He was a clutch player who was a good teammate, and he loved being a Met. His going to the Nationals swung the future fortunes of both franchises.
Murphy left the Nationals, and now they’re terrible. Maybe it’s coincidence, and maybe it’s not. Still, tonight, we saw his impact on a team.
Against his old friend Jacob deGrom, he was 1-for-3. When deGrom was removed from the game, he hit a long homer off Drew Gagnon. It was the second homer of the inning against Gagnon as he melted down and ensured deGrom would be saddled with the loss.
So anyways…
Daniel Murphy goes deep to add some more insurance! pic.twitter.com/0CtFlx59Z4
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 8, 2019
Gagnon followed the homer by plunking Ian Desmond. Seeing this Murphy was the first guy over the railing. Again, good teammate who helps his team win.
Maybe it never mattered he left. Maybe the Mets were just destined to do what they always do because the Wilpons are terrible and not committed to winning.
Thing is the Mets are missing something whether or not it’s Murphy.
They had their ace deGrom gut his way through six innings allowing just two earned. The offense couldn’t get out of their own way against Antonio Senzatela, a pitcher with a 5.33 ERA.
He didn’t have one strikeout all night, and he had just one 1-2-3 inning over his six innings pitched. Part of that is the Mets hitting into two double plays, going 0-for-3 with RISP, and failing to take advantage of opportunities.
The biggest example was the fourth. Dominic Smith had a one out walk, and for a moment, it looked like Wilson Ramos was going to hit into an inning ending double play. Instead Brendan Rodgers whiffed Trevor Story‘s flip setting up first and third with one out. Mets didn’t deliver a hit or even a sacrifice fly.
If not for a Michael Conforto sixth inning homer, the Mets don’t score a run. Overall, it was basically Conforto and Smith who showed up tonight accumulating four of the Mets six hits.
Well, maybe Brodie Van Wagenen will finally look to do something about it instead of ducking the media and leaving his manager twisting in the wind.
Game Recap: This was the first time Ramos caught deGrom instead of Tomas Nido since May 17th.
The Mets have won just rubber game all year, and it does seem like these mid-week day game typically ends terribly for the Mets. Even with the Mets starting the game with back-to-back homers from Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith off Giants starter Shaun Anderson, you could understand any unease from the fans. Then it seemed to be happening all over again.
After going through the lineup without allowing a hit, Mike Yastrzemski opened the fourth with a leadoff single, and he would come home on a Brandon Belt two run homer tying the game. The Mets would then fall behind when Wheeler allowed a Pablo Sandoval homer in the sixth. To put the bad luck into perspective, Wheeler allowed just three hits to the Giants all afternoon, and all three of those runs scored on two homers. Worse yet, the team was down 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Mets got something brewing that inning with a Juan Lagares lead-off walk. The Giants then went to their bullpen, which has been pretty good all year, and brought in Reyes Moronta. He allowed a single to Tomas Nido. Then Mickey Callaway would make some curious decisions which stymied the rally.
Instead of allowing Wheeler to stay in and lay down the sacrifice bunt, he pinch hit Carlos Gomez to do that. That decision is all the more curious when you consider Robinson Cano was sitting with a leg injury, and the team did not start Jeff McNeil a day after a night game in order to not overtax him after returning from two injuries. But, he would effectively waste Gomez to do what Wheeler could have done just as well.
Callaway would pinch hit McNeil for Rosario, and he would drop a bloop single just beyond the reach of Brandon Crawford to tie the score and get Wheeler off the hook. Bruce Bochy then went to Tony Watson to pitch to Smith. Now, Smith has been decent against left-handed pitching this year, and he was 2-for-3 with a homer on the day. However, this was the Mets shot, and Callaway went to J.D. Davis. Unfortunately, he hit into the inning ending double play.
Sure, the Giants are terrible, but considering how the Mets bullpen has been of late, the last thing this team wants was a battle of the bullpens in a game which could be going extra innings.
Fortunately, the Mets had their full bullpen available, which meant Seth Lugo and a scoreless eighth. The Mets would then make him the pitcher of record.
Pete Alonso led off the inning with a single against Mark Melancon. Fortunately, Belt could not handle Michael Conforto‘s ensuing liner. This meant instead of a double play, Conforto, the much better runner, was on first. He wasn’t there long as he would steal his fourth base of the year. This put a runner in scoring position for Todd Frazier, who would knock in Conforto and himself:
CLUTCH! A no-doubter from @FlavaFraz21. ? pic.twitter.com/BW6uYyOWOr
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 6, 2019
The ball was carrying all day. The Giants certainly took advantage, and it was good to see Frazier do it as well. It was even better to see the homer not killing the rally.
After the homer, Adeiny Hechavarria singled, and Lagares doubled. After a Nido ground out, Wilson Ramos would pinch hit and walk to load the bases. This set the stage for McNeil who would deliver with another RBI single. This time two runs scored making it 7-3 Mets. This single allowed the Mets to sit down Edwin Diaz to save him for another day and put in Jeurys Familia. For seemingly the first time since the 2015 NLCS, Familia had a quick 1-2-3 inning to lock down the game.
After Monday’s loss, the Mets were facing some adversity with Callaway once again the media looking to give him the pink slip. Once again, the team responded and won games for both them and their manager. While you would have wanted more, the Mets took the series against the Giants, and they have righted the ship. The key here is what they do next.
Game Notes: Conforto is a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. The four stolen bases are already a career high. McNeil has 40 multi-hit games in his 112 games played.